What makes an engaging website?
In this article, we are not going to gather a group of web developers and graphic artists to review best practices. There will be no gathering of industry executives, no red carpet, no awards given. We are going to look at best practices based on the input of consumers using websites. Inspired by an article I read on Hubspot. 17 Website and UX Design Statistics That Make the Case for Smarter Web Design
According to an article at KoMarketing Associates - "51% of people think "thorough contact information" is the most important element missing from many company websites." and 44% of website visitors will leave a company's website if there's no contact information or phone number.
I happen to agree. At Thrive we try to display our contact information - names, phone number, email addresses, postal address, Google Map, cell phone numbers - throughout our website. We don't care how you communicate with us, just communicate. Of course, we are a legitimate business so we want to be found.
Recently my son was promoted and relocated to a new city. A Big City. He immediately started looking for a new apartment. Online. Now real estate in this Big City is expensive and apartment prices command a substantial premium.
Finally he found an apartment they loved. At a price that was slightly below market value. And it was available now. And the photographs were gorgeous.
So he called his dad for some advice. Everything seemed perfect, but he had one nagging question. "The apartment broker wants me to send him the first month's rent and a security deposit. Before he will show me the apartment." Nothing fishy here. I told him I wouldn't do it. Offer to meet him at his office to show you are legitimate, you have the money and you will ride over with him to view the apartment.
To make a long story short, the broker's website didn't have all the contact information - a phone number and email address was all there was. When pressed about his office address, he explained that he was out of town, they could handle everything on line. You know where this is going. The apartment already had a family living in it and they had no plans to move.
If a website decides not to include all the possible contact information, consumers should be wary about doing business with them.
39% of people will stop engaging with a website if images won’t load or take too long to load. This is especially true in today's market where more than 50% of site traffic comes from cell phones. Slow load times usually means a lot of data is being transferred. Which means there goes your data plan.
Between December 2013 and December 2015, smartphone internet consumption grew by 78% smartphone internet consumption grew by 78%.smartphone internet consumption grew by 78% smartphone internet consumption grew by 78%. If your site isn't mobile friendly, consumers are going some where else.
Mobile devices now account for nearly 2 of every 3 minutes spent online. Are you seeing the trend?
Once on a company's homepage, 52% of visitors want to see "about us" information.
Once on a company's homepage, 64% of visitors want to see the company's contact information.
At Thrive, we spend a lot of time building websites for companies. Features. Tools. Beautiful layout, graphics and photography. But we also realize that many of the elements of an engaging website are determined by the individuals we invite to visit and use our sites. If we fail to build a website with their expectations in mind, it will all be for naught.
As you review your own analytics, take a look at your Bounce Rate (the number of visitors who come to your home page and then bounce out without visiting other pages on your website). You may find ways to decrease your bounce rate and increase the visitors engagement. Which might lead to more sales.
Do you want to learn more about how to make your website more engaging? Give us a call at 419-776-7000 or contact us using the icon below.
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